The Memoir Revolution

Tag: shame

November 12, 2018

Memoirs, privacy, fame, and family

Introspection

depth, Family, memoir, privacy, shame

Unlike Ed Sullivan who became famous for pretending to be no-man, Frank McCourt became famous for being everyman. His memoir, Angela’s Ashes was one of the early books in the modern memoir movement that demonstrated that sharing private life can raise social awareness.

Written by

Jerry Waxler
June 12, 2012

If this memoir author is famous, maybe you are too

Celebrity, Dawn Novotny

Celebrity, childhood abuse, Dawn Novotny, fame, Marilyn Monroe, memoir, shame

Consider all the potential readers you are or will be connected with through various personal and internet groups. In addition, to internet acquaintances there are also people who want to know more about your situation. If you grew up in the Midwest, or are involved in Twelve Step programs, or love to quilt, people who…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
May 1, 2012

Tim Elhajj about Writing and Publishing His Memoir

Addiction, Author Interview, Tim Elhajj

Addiction, honesty, interview, memoir, Publishing, recovery, shame, Tim Elhajj

Most of the anecdotes in the book were ones that I tell in AA meetings or around the dinner table to entertain my kids. Telling a story doesn’t always work the same way as writing a story. You have to make certain adjustments for the page. The audience is potentially different and some things may…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
April 25, 2012

Memoir Interview: A Fresh, Personal Look at Twelve Steps

Addiction, Author Interview, Tim Elhajj

Addiction, honesty, interview, memoir, recovery, shame, Tim Elhajj, Twelve Steps

Dopefiend provides a fresh, authentic look at the influence of the Twelve Steps program, which has been written about in many other books. It’s a question that arises for many memoir writers: “How do I portray my own individual perspective on a topic that has already received wide coverage?”

Written by

Jerry Waxler
April 17, 2012

Memoir Interview: Shame, Addiction and Anonymity

Author Interview, Tim Elhajj

Addiction, honesty, interview, memoir, recovery, shame, Tim Elhajj

I don’t think every story I write needs to be about my recovery or my addiction, but evaluating one’s life openly and honestly, without shame or fear, is the right path for me. It’s like the advice Tobias Wolff wrote to Mary Karr as she set out to write the Liar’s Club. “Don’t be afraid…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
April 21, 2010

Fear of publishing: Try these ten (more) tips to increase courage

Courage to Write, Self Help for Writers

courage, emotions, How-to, public, Publishing, shame, Shy, social anxiety, suggestions, therapy, Toastmasters

While much has been written about how to market your book, there is relatively little guidance for the emotional struggle. Because I have had to cope with my own social anxiety, I have been studying this issue for years, reading self-help books, and incorporating lessons from my formal training in counseling psychology, and trying the…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
April 13, 2010

Too shy to publish your memoir? Try these ten tips to reach towards strangers

Courage to Write, Overcome Obstacles, Publish

courage, public, Publishing, shame, Shy, social anxiety

Reasons for avoiding the public come in many voices, each one asserting a sense of urgency or even danger. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by these concerns, seek solutions. Remember that writing a memoir is a journey. You don’t need to solve every obstacle before you start. Just solve the ones that stop you.

Written by

Jerry Waxler
March 19, 2009

Read banned memoirs: Criminal or Social Activist?

60’s, Book Review, Madison Wisconsin, Vietnam War

Barack Obama, Bill Ayers, Fugitive Days, Madison, memoir, protests, riots, shame, social responsibility, Vietnam War

When Ayers was a young man, his outrage against the war drove him to the brink of anarchy. In his memoir, Fugitive Days, he chronicles his violent thoughts and actions in almost poetic detail. Even after reading the memoir, it’s hard for me to decide if he was a hero who risked his life to…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
October 28, 2008

Let Your Memoir Take You to the Fourth Step

Addiction, Cultural community

Addiction, alcoholism, Cultural community, essay, Fourth Step, memoir, shame, Twelve Steps

Now, as I study memoir writing, I believe I have stumbled upon another connection with the Twelve Steps. The Fourth Step says, “We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” The goal of taking this inventory is to replace vague sorrows of “having messed up,” with more detailed information. It’s an important exercise…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
October 7, 2008

Mothers and Daughters Don’t Always Mix

Book Review, Heal from Abuse, Service

Abandonment, child abuse, Great Plains, memoir, Midwest, secrets, shame

This book demonstrates the power of persistence. By crafting the story until she got it right, Linda Joy Myers discovered amidst the wreckage of that little girl’s childhood an intact human being, complete with courage, confidence, and dreams. Storytelling transformed her heartbreaking childhood into one stage in a much longer saga. Her suffering and then…

Written by

Jerry Waxler